Schumer: Wisconsin goes too far

Senator says he opposes efforts to "just break unions"

Updated 8:39 am, Wednesday, February 23, 2011

TROY -- The Badger State and the Empire State don't have much in common when it comes to the current status of public workers unions, Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday.

"I am not in favor of the idea we should just break unions," Schumer said in a visit to Brown's Brewing Company in Troy.

Looking at the situation in Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker wants to strip away many collective bargaining guarantees, Schumer said public employee unions are willing to make concessions to help the state close its budget gap.

Walker, he suggested, had gone too far by insisting on fundamental changes to the bargaining process.

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Talking more generally about labor conditions around the nation, Schumer pointed to the fact that the median annual income in the United States has dropped during the most recent recession by $2,000 to $46,000.

"The middle class is hurting," said Schumer, who was promoting the BEER Act, which gives microbreweries a tax break intended to aid in job creation.

Unions closer to home shouldn't worry about a repeat of the midwest standoff, he said. "The idea of just taking away workers' right to collective bargaining is not going to happen: New York is not Wisconsin," said New York's senior senator, who appeared earlier Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," also to address the situation in Wisconsin.

"We're glad to hear (Schumer) say that," said Stephen Madarasz, a spokesman for the state workers union CSEA. "We're taking nothing for granted."

CSEA officials and rank-and-file members have joined the protests at the state capitol in Madison. Its parent union, AFSCME, was founded in that state.

In New York, public employee unions are girding for conflicts with Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his proposed budget, which calls for $450 million in savings from state work force costs, and upcoming contract talks.